J - dpdlaw.com · Docket No. MER-L-1004-15 CIVIL ACTION CERTIFICATION OF PATRICIA RISCH Patricia...
Transcript of J - dpdlaw.com · Docket No. MER-L-1004-15 CIVIL ACTION CERTIFICATION OF PATRICIA RISCH Patricia...
JOHN J. HOFFMA...I\JActing Attorney General of New JerseyR.J. Hughes Justice ComplexP.O. Box 112Trenton, New Jersey 08625Attorney for Defendants
Raymond P. MartinezNew Jersey Motor Vehicle CommissionJohn Jay Hoffman, Esq.State of New JerseyNatasha JohnsonDepartment of Human Services,
Division of Family Development, Officeof Child Support Services
By: Francesco Ferrantelli Jr.Deputy Attorney General(609) [email protected]
ANDREANA KAVADAS, ALISHAGRABOWSKI, LAQUAY DANSBY, andPAULO AREDE,
Plaintiffs,
v.
RAYMOND P. MARTINEZ, the NEWJERSEY MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION,JOHN J. HOFFMAN, ESQ., the STATEOF NEW JERSEY, NATASHA JOHNSON,and the DEPARTMENT OF HUMANSERVICES, DIVISION OF FAMILYDEVELOPMENT, OFFICE OF CHILDSUPPORT SERVICES,
Defendants.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEYLAW DIVISION MERCER COUNTY
Docket No. MER-L-1004-15
CIVIL ACTION
CERTIFICATION OFPATRICIA RISCH
Patricia Risch, of full age, hereby certifies as follows:
1. I am employed' by the State of New Jersey, Department of Human
Services , Division of Family Development ("DFD") as an Assistant
Director in the Office of Child Support Services ("OCSS").
been employed in this position for 1.5 years.
2 . In my position as Assistant Director I I have personal
I have
knowledge of the procedures for automatic driverls license
suspension as statutorily mandated by N.J.S.A. 56:17-41.1 also
have personal knowledge of general child support enforcement
procedures taken by the courts and the Probation Division. Child
support enforcement procedures in New Jersey are operationalized by
DFD/OCSS and the Administrative Office of the Courts
("AOC")/Probation Division as set forth herein.
3. The OCSS is responsible for the oversight and administration
of the State/s Child Support Program. The OCSS is New Jersey's
designated IV-D agency for the purposes of federal child support
enforcement laws.
4. OCSS administers child support enforcement in accordance
with an interagency agreement with the Administrative Office of the
Courts ("AOCII). A true and accurate copy of this agreement is
attached to this certification as Exhibit A.5. The AOCI through the judiciary and through the Probation
Divisionl issues warrants and orders to effectuate judicial child
support enforcement I and determines its own policies for doing SOl
as reflected in AOC Directive #15-08. The Vicinage Probation
Divisionsl which are overseen by the AOCI are responsible for
enforcing court orders. DFD/OCSS does not have any authority to
2
issue court orders. DFD/OCSS has authority to utilize.
administrative enforcement remedies to enforce support orders.
6. In 2009, New Jersey implemented a new automated statewide
system for tracking child support payments and obligations and
issuing notices to obligors, called New Jersey Kids Deserve Support
("NJKiDS") .
7. The interagency agreement between OCSS and the AOC requires
the AOC to electronically enter all court orders into the NJKiDS
system. (Exhibit A, pp. 13-14).
8. Once a Family Division judge establishes an order containing
a child support obligation, the obligor/noncustodial parent ("NCP")
automatically receives two notices: (1) the Form CS526 Uniform
Summary Support Order (the "USSO"); and (2) the Form CS002
Instructions for Compliance with Support Order. I have reviewed
Plaintiffs' Exhibit R, at pages 000013-18, and I can confirm that
those are true and accurate copies of these form notices.
9. The Instructions for Compliance with Support Order are
provided to obligors upon establishment of the child support order.t
10. The USSO is provided to obligors with every single court
order modifying or confirming any sort of child support obligation.
The USSO, under provision 13, states that the obligor's license
shall be denied, suspended or revoked if a Court issues a child
support related bench warrant.
3
11. Before issuing or modifying a child support order, the court
applies the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines to determine the
amount of the order. The Guidelines are based on an income share
formula and takes into account the individual obligor and obligee's
gross income and expenses. The court sets child support payments
according to the Guidelines unless good cause is shown for it to be
modified or disregarded. ~ 5:6A.
12. The obligor can make a request to the court to modify the
child support obligation at any time due to changed circumstances,
and the child support order is subject to automatic court review
every three years upon the request of either the obligee or
obligor.
13. After the first instance that an obligor is delinquent past
fourteen days, the Probation Division sends a Notice of
Delinquency, Form CS022, to the delinquent obligor. I have
reviewed Plaintiffs' Exhibit R, p. 000001, and I can confirm that
as a true and accurate copy of the form Notice of Delinquency sent
to delinquent obligors.
14. The Notice of Delinquency advises the obligor that continued
non-compliance may result in the suspension of his or her driver's
license.
15. If an obligor remains noncompliant after receipt of the
Notice of Delinquency, the Probation Division performs a review of
the case to determine whether to request an Enforcement of
4
Litigant's Rights ("ELR") hearing on behalf of the
obligee/custodial parent or County Welfare Agency. R. 5:7-5(a).
The obligee may also file a motion to enforcement litigant's rights
pursuant to ~ 5:7-5(a)
16. A request for an ELR hearing is generally the first judicial
enforcement activity against an obligor.
17. If an ELR hearing is requested by the Probation Division, a
Form CS040, Notice of Motion, and a Form CS041, Certification in
Support of Motion, is provided to the obligor. The Notice of
Motion for an ELR hearing advises the obligor that failure to
appear at the hearing may result in the issuance of an arrest
warrant. I have reviewed Plaintiffs' Exhibit R., p. 000003, and I
can confirm that this is a true and accurate copy of the form
Notices of Motion used by the Probation Division to initiate ELR
hearings.
18. The ELR hearing is held before a Child Support Hearing
Officer (CSHO) at the Probation Division. A party who appears
before a CSHO has the right to object or "appeal" a CSHO IS
recommended decision and be heard immediately (usually on the same
day) before a Family Division Judge. ~ 2:25-3(d) (2).
19. If the obligor fails to appear at an ELR hearing, and the
court is satisfied that the obligor received notice of the hearing,
the CSHO will recommend and the court will issue, upon accepting
5
the recommendation,
Warrant II ) •
20. If the obligor appears at the ELR hearing, following the
a ~'larrant for Failure to Appear ("FTA
hearing the court may issue an Order in Aid of Litigant's Rights,
to which the USSO is attached.
21. A bench warrant stipulation in an Order in Aid of Litigant's
Rights provides that the court will issue a bench warrant for the
obligor's arrest without additional notice if the obligor fails to
make future regularly scheduled payments, or if the obligor fails
to make a lump sum payment by a certain date.
22. NJKiDS automatically alerts the assigned Probation Division
case worker if an obligor on bench warrant status fails to comply
with the payment schedule set forth in the Order in Aid of
Litigant's Rights. Upon recognizing such a violation, the case
worker requests issuance of a failure to pay warrant ("FTP
Warrant") from the Family Division judge for the obligor's arrest.
23. At such time that the Probation Division requests issuance
of a warrant, the obligor may receive Form CS594, "Notice of Intent
of Bench Warrant," from the NJKiDS system. This notice informs the
obligor that failure to comply with the court order may result in a
driver's license suspension. I have reviewed Plaintiffs' Exhibit R,
p. 000002, and I can confirm that this is a true and accurate copy
of Form CS594.
6
24. Once the judge signs the bench warrant, AOC sends an alert
to the Sheriff's Department, who enters the information into the
National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") database within three
days of issuance.
25. An obligor can check his or her bench warrant status from
the child support customer service portal at any time, at
www.njchildsupport.org.
26. When the obligor comes before the court to address a bench
warrant, the court conducts a review of the obligor's employment
history and financial status by completing Form CS700, "Obligor
Questionnaire." A true and accurate copy of this questionnaire is
attached to this certification as Exhibit B.
27. At the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing, the court
can discharge the bench warrant or lift the obligor' s driver's
license suspension. The results of the bench warrant hearing are
memorialized in an Order in Aid of Litigant's Rights.
28. All the notices referenced herein are sent by regular mail
to the obligor's address on record with NJKiDS. The obligor can
update his or her contact information by notifying the Probation
Division, by contacting OCSS's toll-free Child Support Customer
Service Hotline, or by logging onto the customer service portal at
www.njchildsupport.org.
29. N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.43 establishes an independent separate
process for suspending delinquent obligor's driver's, professional,
7
occupational, recreational or sporting licenses. This process only
applies after all other enforcement remedies have been exhausted
and is separate from the automatic driver's license suspension
provision of N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.41{a).
I certify that the foregoing statements made by me are true. I
am aware that if any of the foregoing statements made by me are
willfully false, I am subject to punishment.
1 Patricia RischDATED::J/ 2-'{ II rc
8